The Boy Time Forgot
by Ulura
Summary: Merlin has a chance to bring back not only magic, but so many lives to Camelot. But this costs him dearly, not his life. Something much much worse. oneshot.


Merlin stared at the witch in front of him. For days he had been chasing her down, he couldn't even remember half of it because of the rage he had been in. She had ruined Camelot, Arthur's destiny as the once and future king was all but gone. He had tried to stop her but his magic hadn't been enough, her demons had been too much for him to handle and so wide spread and he simply couldn't be everywhere he was needed at once.

Now he finally had her cornered, in her cave lair in the Valley of Fallen Kings. She held her crystal staff in front of her defensively. That dam staff! It had been what allowed her to call forth those horrid creatures, those creatures that had torn Camelot down brick by brick.

"You can save them" She said simply, lowering the staff "You can save more than that, if you really want to"

"What do you mean?" Merlin asked, part of him wanted to blast her and be done with it, he was doing his best to ignore that part of himself right now.

"This crystal has the power to re-write time itself, it's greatest power" The witch explained, "You could change history so that Uther's wife never dies, his heart never hardened and magic was never purged from the kingdom"

"If it can do all that why didn't you do it yourself?" Merlin growled "Why didn't you do that instead of killing all those people? Why!"

"I do not have the power" SHe sighed "The demons are the easiest thing to summon from this staff, since I couldn't fix history I decided to give this land a clean slate, but you, you have the power"

"Magic like that has a price" Merlin replied "I know it must"

"It does" The witch agreed, "If you re-write history, you will remember how the world once was, but because you are the centre, you wont change along with the rest of the world"

"Nobody will remember me" Merlin stated, "I would never of been born in that world"

She nodded, she almost looked sad for him. She held out the staff to him trustingly. Merlin cursed her for understanding him in the short few days since they had fought. She knew he would do it.

Merlin walked along the rebuilt streets of Camelot, no that wasn't right, they were not rebuilt, because they had never been ruined. Not here. He looked all around, the city was pretty much the same. Though his thoughts were interrupted when he ran into somebody.

"Sorry! I didn't see you there, I was just in a hurry you see, getting married in a month and so much to do!" The well dressed woman replied laughing.

"You must be the new Lady, Gwen right?" Merlin greeted as happily as he could muster.

"Yes" She blushed "I was a blacksmiths daughter but the queen is so kind, when she found out about me and Prince Arthur she was actually happy!"

"She is a kind queen" Merlin smiled sadly.

"So what's your name then?" She asked kindly "I've never seen you around before"

God how it hurt to hear her say that, to see his good friend look him in the eyes and have no idea who he was. He briefly thought back over what he had gone through with her over the last five years, five years that never happened to anybody save him.

"Merlin" He replied blinking back tears as subtly as he could manage.

"Are you alright, you look shaken?" Gwen put her hand on his shoulder.

"I um...you just remind me of somebody I knew, thats all" Merlin smiled again "A long long time ago..."

"I'm sorry" the future queen replied before giving him a finale smile and rushing off to where ever it was she had been going.

Merlin walked up to the castle, he wanted to see Gaius, he knew it would hurt but he felt he had to. He couldn't bring himself to go to Ealdor to see his mother, that was just too much. As he walked the familiar corridor he saw the king and his now living queen talking, they past him by without a word.

"Gaius?" He called as he entered the room, he looked up into what had once been his room, the door was open, it was Gaius's bedroom now.

"Hello" Greeted Gaius from his desk "What do you need?"

"I was just wondering, if you had some basic medicine I could buy, going away" Merlin explained.

"You are pretty young to be going far" Gaius observed "Where is your family? I've never seen you around before"

"My family...is dead" Merlin decided on, after all it was basically true, "Everybody I ever knew is"

"Oh my boy" Gaius looked at him pityingly "What on earth happened I have not heard of anything so terrible happening"

"I come from far away, in the north part of Cendred's kingdom that's why" Merlin lied quickly, finding it harder and harder to look at the man who had been a father to him for so long, "Bandits killed everybody, I was the only one who got away, my medicine is out I just need a top up"

Gaius quickly began to pack some basic remedies into a pouch for Merlin, looking at the boy sadly. Merlin let his eyes dance over the room, glancing down at the books open on the tables. His heart stopped when he saw his own magic book, out in the open, because there was no danger now. Merlin let his eyes light up and the book came to him.

"Sorcerer I see" Gaius smiled handing him the pouch.

"Yeah..." Merlin sniffed, everything here was so, wrong. No, this world was right, HE was wrong.

"I'm sorry about your family" Gaius consoled, Merlin just nodded and headed for the door, roughly stuffing the pouch into his pack and he went before he ran down the tower stairs, heading for the door. Before he got a chance to however he smacked into yet another person and slammed into the ground.

"That's the second time I've done that today..." Merlin groaned picking himself up to apologise however he lost his nerve when Arthur's face stared back at him. Gaping at him.

"You!" He exclaimed

"I'm sorry!" Merlin replied hastily

"No I mean...I thought..." The prince trailed off "Your that guy, from my dreams"

"You...dream about me" Merlin said slowly

"No not like that I mean, I know it sounds weird, I dream about these things I've never done like fighting a dragon and the legendary Knights of Iridioshlas and things and well you are always there!"

"You don't say" Merlin mumbled, Arthur subconsciously remembered him, for once Merlin didn't feel so annoyed at destiny for roping them together.

"Is your name Emrys by any chance?" The prince asked. Merlin knew what he wnated to say, he wanted to say yes his name was and tell Arthur his dreams were real and that he changed history so that he and Camelot would be safe. Then he would tell him all about the Knights of the Round Table and all their adventures and how in his world he couldn't tell him who he was because magic was banned. Merlin took a deep breath.

"No, I'm sorry, I'm just a traveler from Cendred's Kingdom" He replied he mind screaming at him in protest.

"Too bad, Sorry I held you up Merlin" The prince apologised "Perhaps you should stop at the library, they have great magic books their maybe you could find a few to write down"

"How did you know I have magic?" Merlin gaped at him.

"I don't know I just did" Arthur shrugged then jokingly added "You know it's too bad your just passing through, I think we could of been good friends"

The prince went walking off into the courtyard leaving Merlin behind. No doubt he was off to train with the knights, to talk and life with his betrothed. In no time all the traveler, Merlin, would fade to nothing in his memory. As would it from the minds of Gwen and Gaius. Nobody would remember to young man who came through Camelot looking so sad for reasons nobody really knew.

They would all forget this him, just like they already forgot the real him.

But he would never forget them.


End file.
